Countdown to Christmas - Day 15

Today's post is one that's been in my head for awhile now. If you know me personally, you know I'm short. A whole 5 feet tall short. When I was younger, it wasn't too hard to find clothes that fit,.......... cause I was younger and could shop in the junior section. But now I'm in my 30's, I'm a mom to young boys, and I want to dress cute, fashionable, yet modest and age-appropriate.

I have seen many women my age dressing from the juniors department and in my opinion, it just doesn't look the best. Sometimes it looks like they are trying too hard to hang on to their teenage/early 20's years. That is ok for them, but I want to look like a grown up. And being petite makes that (dressing/looking my age) an even bigger challenge. I don't do super tight shirts or jeans that show off my way too much if I bend over to help my boys with something. I cringe every time I see a mom stooping down to a child and their Victoria's Secret panties (or more!) are showing. Not classy. I also don't do low cut tops. Some things are just not meant for the whole world to see. Again, I want to be an example of modesty and I want to show my boys what is respectable.

But, I love to shop and I still wanna dress cute!

Earlier this year, I was searching the internet for petite clothing. Age-appropriate clothing. But not old-ladyish.

What I found pretty much opened up a whole new world to me! I found blogs, written by petite women (my size and smaller!), who wanted to dress fun, but work and age appropriate. These ladies talked about petite body shapes and what works best on each of them, how to look taller by how you style and wear outfits, what stores carry petite-friendly clothes and so much more! They post pictures of their outfits, those that look great on them and even those that don't. Finding these blogs has been so helpful to me!

The first "petite friendly" blog I found was ALTERATIONS NEEDED
, whose author is Kelly.

She has great style. Although not ALL of her outfits go along with my personal taste, I have gotten so many helpful tips from her. The picture below is what she calls her "go-to outfit."

She explains what to look for in an outfit on a day you just don't know what to wear. I can't tell you how many times I have created new outfits based on the above picture.

I am by no means a fashion expert. I don't have the style sense to just walk into a clothing store and put pieces together to make a great outfit. I have to really try hard and learn, read, and know specific pieces of clothing/accsesories I need to buy.

I also have a budget and can not shop at the more expensive stores alot of the blog author's I read about do. So, I have to be creative and patient. I try to recreate their looks for less or save up my money to buy a more pricey item.

If you're a shorty like me or just want ideas on dressing fun, yet age-appropriate, check out ALTERATIONS NEEDED!